Tokyo: Tibet Action Institute, Closed Door Policy Consulting, and Students for a Free Tibet Japan organised a symposium on “Japan-Tibet-India: Reincarnation, Security, and Democracy” at the University of Tokyo Komaba complex on 10 May 2026. Scholars, academicians, activists, media members, students, and the general public attended and participated in the symposium with great interest.
Dorjee Tsetan, Programme Director of the Tibet Action Institute and a Tibetan lawmaker, welcomed the participants and briefly explained the purpose of the symposium as bringing together strategic thinkers focusing on Japan, Tibet, and India to examine how Indo-Pacific’s leading democracies can engage on Tibet from a position rooted in their own civilisational and security interests.
Dr. Tsewang Gyalpo Arya, Representative of the Liaison Office of His Holiness the Dalai Lama for Japan and East Asia, gave the opening remarks, in which he explained the contradiction that, despite saying religion is poison, the CCP regime is aggressively trying to legitimise its religious interference. He warned that India and Japan are free democratic and secular countries, but their silence on the religious repression and the CCP’s interference in the reincarnation of His Holiness the Dalai Lama may adversely affect their national security and democracy.
Among the distinguished speakers and panels were Dr. Gyal Lo, educational sociologist and a leading expert on China’s assimilation and education policies in Tibet; Prof. Satoshi Hirano of Graduate Schools for Law and Politics of University of Tokyo; Prof. Maiko Ichihara of Graduate School of Law and Institute for Global Governance Research of Hitotsubashi University and Dr. Satoru Nagao of Institute of International Strategy of Tokyo International University, Fellow (non-resident), Hudson Institute and member of the International Board of Advisers, Jindal India Institute.
Jyotsna Mehra of the Closed-Door Policy Consulting moderated the discussion. The panels discussed several important issues, such as what role Japan and India can play to tackle the increased Chinese interference in the religious matters; the recent Chinese Ethnic Unity law and its repercussions; Indo-Pacific strategy and future of the Quad; China’s continued infrastructure build-up along India’s border; and concrete steps India and Japan need to take to deter China’s aggression in the Indo-Pacific regions.
A Japanese translation of the report on the Chinese colonial boarding school “When they came to take our children” by the Tibet Action Institute and the Tibet House Japan was released and distributed to the audience.
The symposium saw active audience participation during the Q&A session. The organisers thanked Prof. Tomoko Ako of Tokyo University for making the symposium possible and offered khatags, Tibetan scarves, to all the speakers and guests. Many suggested that such a symposium should be organised more often in Japan.
– Report filed by Office of Tibet, Japan
